HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

Backing Up Your System Disk

Unless your newly installed or upgraded system disk will be
part of a shadow set, HP recommends that you back up the system
disk before performing the tasks described in this chapter. If
you encounter problems while performing any of these tasks, having
a backup copy of the system disk ensures that you can restore it to
a known condition without having to repeat the installation or upgrade.

If your system disk will be part of a multiple-member shadow
set, then a backup is not necessary. Either form or re-form the
shadow set, as described in “Forming the Shadow
Set”; this creates a backup copy of the newly installed
or upgraded system disk through the shadow copy operation. Remember
to dismount any added shadow set members after the shadow copy has
completed, complete any steps described in this chapter that you
need to perform and, when you are finished, re-form the shadow set.

If your newly installed or upgraded system disk will not be
in a shadow set, back up the system disk by performing the following
steps. (For a newly installed system disk, it might be just as
easy to reinstall the operating system.)

Use the OpenVMS operating system menu to enter the DCL
environment (option 8).

Mount the system device and the target device on which
you are making the backup copy. (If you are backing up to tape,
skip to the next step.) For example, if your system disk is on
DKA0: and the target device is on DKA100:, you might use the following
commands (colons are required). The /OVERRIDE qualifier used in
this example enables you to mount the system disk without entering its
volume label. The /FOREIGN qualifier is required for the target
disk when you use the BACKUP /IMAGE command.

To back up the system disk to a magnetic tape, enter
the following commands, where MTA0: is the magnetic tape drive and label is
the volume label. Note that the BACKUP command automatically mounts
the tape and begins the backup to it.

The /IMAGE qualifier causes the backup to produce a functionally
equivalent copy of the system disk, which is also bootable. The
/LOG qualifier causes the procedure to display the specification
of each save set file being processed. To compare the backed up
files to the source files, use the /VERIFY qualifier. If any discrepancies
are detected, the Backup utility displays an error message.

Log out from the DCL environment.

Shut down the system by selecting option 9 on the menu.

Boot from the disk on which you either upgraded or installed
OpenVMS.

In addition to backing up the system disk now before you customize
it, you should back up your system disk again after you successfully
complete your customization tasks and install layered products.

For more complete information about backup operations, including
a description of an alternative method that does not require booting
from the operating system media and that enables you to back up
a shadowed disk without disabling the shadow set, see Appendix E “Backing Up and Restoring the System Disk”. For more information about the
Backup utility, see the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual: A--L.